China’s Huawei Technologies has published standard royalty rates for its Wi-Fi and smartphone patents as the sanctions-hit communications equipment company steps up fee collection to make up for declined product sales.
Huawei said Thursday it will charge 50 cents per unit for next-generation Wi-Fi 6 consumer devices. The announcement coincided with the start of an intellectual property forum in Shenzhen.
The company capped royalties at USD 2.50 per unit for smartphones that support fifth-generation wireless technology, and at USD 1.50 for 4G phones.
In terms of smart devices, it will charge either 1% of the selling price or up to 75 cents, or between 30 cents and USD 1, depending on the type of product.
The company holds numerous standard-essential patents in 5G and Wi-Fi. This means products by other manufacturers that conform to industry communications standards are using patented Huawei technologies. Companies that are not using Huawei products could also face licensing fee demands from the Chinese company.
Huawei is currently seeking licensing fees from around 30 companies in Japan, including telecommunications equipment makers.
“We believe reasonable royalty rates will incentivize both the creation and adoption of innovations,” Alan Fan, who heads Huawei’s Intellectual Property Rights Department, said at the Shenzhen forum on Thursday.
Huawei in recent years has been forced to scale back its operations, especially in connection to smartphones, as the U.S. restricts semiconductor exports to the company. It could be looking to stabilize its earnings by boosting income from patent royalties.
Huawei earned USD 560 million in licensing revenue in 2022. The company said it has cumulatively paid around triple what it has collected in royalties.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.